Poor judgment, or manipulation? | Eastern North Carolina Now

A national day of bad taste

    I had been appointed to be the County Commissioner representative on the Beaufort County Board of Health having attended only one board meeting when I was handed a shocker. The Wednesday February 13 edition of the Washington Daily news printed an article titled "Beaufort County Health Department Recognizes National Condom Day". During that week I received several stern complaints, mostly from women. Men were puzzled as to why this had to be celebrated.

    I was raised in a fairly strait laced family with a full time father and mother. We were instructed that good taste was always the order of the day. Unless you were in very familiar company there were several things that were not discussed out of respect for all parties. Among these subjects were religion, politics, family short comings and sex or anything to do with sex. My first thought when approached about this subject was "I am not supposed to be discussing this subject with this woman, it is not proper". I quickly realized that those who were complaining were just as sensitive about the subject as I am. It also became apparent that I, in my position as an elected official and board member was expected address the embarrassed ire of those who were offended by the callus, insensitive and ignorant behavior of this government agency.

    I asked for the National Condom Week article to the placed on the agenda for the March 19 meeting. The Board of Health meets on odd numbered months on the third Tuesday at 6:00 PM at the Health Department on Highland Drive in Washington. The public is invited.

    People were not offended by the educational aspects of this subject. The prevention of the transmission of disease and the prevention of pregnancy was not at issue. They were upset that Valentines day was selected to be National Condom Day. There is no question that who ever decided to use Saint Valentine's day for this purpose has an ocean of insensitivity and a definite disconnect from the higher virtues of the human spirit. Even discounting the fact that advertisements not only on Television but in all other mediums has become crass, crude, insensitive and vulgar during the past several years, taking Saint Valentines day and making it into a celebration of hedonism is a stretch.
Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson making a salient point at the Candidate's Forum: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage
    I decided to present my complaint in writing to the board. This is a delicate subject and I did not want to be misquoted. It was as follows: "I have had several complaints, mostly from women, about this article. It is offensive to many adults. There are concerns from parents about how this public presentation of a serious subject could miss inform and confuse teenagers and children. For those who do not know, romance and sex are two different things. Valentines Day is about romance and its many different facets..,,not sex. Having a day to celebrate condoms is bad enough but choosing Valentines Day was a bad judgment. I request the staff of the Beaufort County Health Department, in the future, to exercise good judgement when presenting these subjects that remain delicate and personal to a major part of our population. Not following in the foot steps of bad judgement is your individual and personal responsibility. My parents often told me that I did not have to use bad judgement just because everyone else proved theirs."

    Three board members thought my request deserved some consideration. Their opinion was quickly dismissed by the majority who acted puzzled that anyone would question the infinite wisdom of what ever government agency was supposedly behind condom day.

    Then things got really strange. Keep in mind that I have been an elected official for 17 years. So I have seen a lot and have had a lot of people try to intimidate me. I have seen a lot of smoke blown. I frequently encounter liberals who use every trick in the book to shut me down including telling me "No one wants to hear what you have to say".

    I was told by the Chairman of the Board, Dr. Stan Cohen, that I had violated Health Department policy. Other members of the board are: Michael Bell, Mike Crawford, Mac Jones III, Sonya Jones, Dennis O'Neal, Carol Preston, Mithell St. Clair, Frank Velde and Robert Belcher. My sin was that I had talked to a Health Department Employee. He then proceeded to make this motion: "The following motion is the protocol to be used by Health Department Board of Health members concerning employee issues: There is not to be any individual Board members direct contact between a Health Department employee or the Director concerning performance issues. If there is an issue with the performance of a Health Department employee, other than the Director, the problem will be reported to the Health Department Director. If there is an issue with the Director, the problem will be presented, in a closed meeting, to the Health Department Board for discussion". He missed the target. The issue is with the performance with the Board of Health not the employee.

    Dr. Cohen's drawers were in a knot because I had accidentally discovered the identity of the Health Department Employee who had prepared the article in question. Why was it such a secret? She admitted she wrote the article and then reported my casual inquiry to her superior.

    Dr. Cohen' s motion passed. I do not mind following normal and usual chains of command and procedures for the normal, casual and polite communication and exchange of information whether in government or industrial settings. No one should interfere with operations and deliberately try to stir up trouble in any organization. However, I believe, based on the un-cooperative attitude displayed by Dr. Cohen that he is attempting to muzzle me. I voted against the motion and informed the board that I intended to continue to behave as my position as an elected official, and appointee to the board and my rights as a citizen allow.

    A little internet research provided some interesting information about how we got where we are with National Condom Day and Week. In 1978 National Condom Week was started by students at the University of California-Berkley. During the 1980's and 1990's the week was embraced by universities, high schools, AIDS organizations, sexually transmitted disease organizations, family planning organizations and pharmacies. During 1995 Christian Leadership Ministries countered the celebration of Condom Week on university campuses by encouraging marriage as the only appropriate arena for sex. The Condom Week and Day advertisements on the internet are almost all sponsored by condom manufacturers. Is it any wonder boards of health are insensitive about this? They all have university back grounds.

    Why do boards and commissions fail to carry out their civic, moral and fiduciary duties. I have observed several situations involving boards and commissions in which the board becomes an exclusive club with members dedicated to the protection of the management and themselves. Many of these situations have ended in disaster for the public. North Carolina has open meeting laws which provide some protection to the public. Little protection is provided the public unless board meetings are covered by the press. Beaufort County Board of Health meetings are not usually covered by the press nor are members of the public present. With no public supervision, is it any wonder the Health Department is becoming another socialist welfare center. Come visit with us.